


Bonding Hearts

by neosaiyanangel



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Body Horror, Established Relationship, Friendship/Love, Heartless (Kingdom Hearts) - Freeform, Multi, Violence, Wedding Fluff, Wedding Planning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:29:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 11,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27896086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neosaiyanangel/pseuds/neosaiyanangel
Summary: Sora, Riku, and Kairi finally decide to make their relationship past the obvious and get married. Their friends - all of their friends - try to make it a dream wedding.But something stirs in the darkness.
Relationships: Kairi/Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5
Collections: Heart Attack Exchange 2020





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Serie11](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serie11/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This excludes Kingdom Hearts 3 and assumes a point in the future when things are, at least, calmer.

It stirred.

It had no mind. No soul. No grasp of consequences, or conscience. All It had was an emptiness and a  _ need _ .

It shifted in the blackness. The little instinct It had told It that there was a thread. Something was happening that would bring together what It craved. It drew itself forward, reaching out to grasp-

Some  _ thing _ hit It. It stung, enough to cause It to pull back into the darkness. Whatever it had been, it was still there. Watching, waiting. Vigilant for It to try once more to take what It needed.

Its yearning to fill the emptiness was powerful. It wanted all of that which was being guarded from it.

It would wait. For that’s all It could do. Wait until It could have that which It wanted.

Someday, It would have them. Those precious hearts calling to It.

It would quench the never ending thirst.


	2. Chapter 2

He slowly woke up. The dream...it felt like...

“Sora!”

A dual shout of his name instantly made him shoot up, forgetting about the darkness. He looked up.

Standing above him were Kairi and Riku. The bright smile on Kairi’s face and the knowing smirk on Riku’s face made his heart skip a beat. How could it not? After all the three of them had been through - apart, together, all the spectrums in-between - it was simply a relief that they could once again be on their little island together.

“Heya guys! What’s up?” Sora grinned. “You guys want to race around the island? I swear I won’t even _try_ to use Drive Forms. I bet I could beat you without them!”

“Like you can even use those without willing partners,” Riku said wryly.

“Aren’t you guys my partners?”

“You realize that would take away the point of a race,” Kairi noted.

“Yeah...but think of how fast we’d be!” Sora hopped up. “I bet we could beat the best record any of us have!”

“Yeah-no.” Riku stretched. “I _am_ up for a basic old race...if you’re not chicken enough to go through with it.”

_Do it!_ Sora heard Roxas cheer in his soul.

Sora laughed. “You’re on!”

* * *

The three of them were now sprawled out on the beach, heads together in thought as they breathed heavily from what ended up being various races around the island.

“I still can’t believe you beat _both_ of us,” Sora complained.

“You’ve definitely been practicing,” Riku said.

“What can I say? The extra years here really showed me some of the shortcuts and best ways around the stages,” Kairi chuckled.

“I bet-”

“You haven’t even given me whatever you’d bet when I won the last few races!” Kairi protested cheerily. “What do I even get?”

Sora thought hard for a second. “...I don’t know. What do _you_ want?”

This time it was Kairi’s turn to think. “The bet was from both of you?”

Riku shrugged. “I’m fine with that.”

“Hmmmmm…” Kairi reached both her hands up and rested them on her boyfriends’ heads. “I think…”

After she dragged that out for a solid minute, Sora said, “What? What do you want?”

“I…” Then, shyly, she said, “I want us to finally get married.”

“Married?” Sora swallowed.

“Yeah! Finally swear our hearts to each other.” Kairi sat up. “We’ve been through so much together...I think it’s finally time we announce just _how_ close we are.”

“Okay.”

Sora gawked at how...how _easily_ Riku agreed to it. “Uh, Riku? You heard her, right? Marriage.”

“Yeah, I heard her. I think she’s right.” Riku shrugged. “Our hearts are one already. Why not our souls too?” He peered more closely at Sora. “Do you have any objections to it?”

The wording was probably intentional. Sora exclaimed, “I, I, no, I don’t _object_. Just, it’s a lot to do! All the dresses...food...location…” He swallowed again, sweat dripping down his brow.

Kairi nodded thoughtfully. “We can’t forget all of our dear friends.”

“All of them…” _That_ would be a task and a half. Where would they even fit them on their little island?

_Why not Twilight Town? Or Radiant Garden?_ Roxas suggested.

“Roxas thinks Radiant Garden would be a good idea,” Sora picked. He knew,  _ knew _ that Roxas just wanted to be around his friends. None of the three getting married had any sort of connection like that to the world. At least they had a history via Kairi for Radiant Garden.

“Okay! So then…” Kairi seemed nervous as she said, “We’re going to get married?”

“Yes.”

“Yes!”

All three of them got up and gave each other a solid, wonderful hug. Sora could feel their hearts beating in time with his own. Hearts that he knew intimately. Hearts that had never failed him.

Together forever. It had a nice ring to it.


	3. Chapter 3

“Marriage?!” Donald shouted. It echoed in the halls of Mickey’s castle.

“Yeah. Marriage.” Sweat was building on Sora’s brow again. Butterflies ate at his stomach.

“Gawrsh, that’s a big one.” Goofy scratched his head. “You sure about it?”

“Well…” Sora shifted. It wasn’t like he  _ didn’t _ want to be bonded to Riku and Kairi for eternity. He did! Just… Sora finally admitted, “All the stuff around it. I don’t…” He sighed. “It’s a lot to do.”

“Don’tcha worry about a thing! Me an’ Donald can help,” Goofy said as he wrapped his arm around Sora’s shoulder.

“It’s not like you guys have any experience,” Sora dramatically wailed quietly.

“We do so!” Donald grumbled. “King Mickey and Queen Minnie got married in a grand ceremony. The entire kingdom was invited!”

“And I was married for a bit,” Goofy said. “How do you think I got Maxxie?”

“Max?” Sora had almost forgotten about Goofy’s son. He barely came up at all. Nodding, Sora added, “And Donald and Daisy?”

“Erm…” Goofy gave Donald the side-eye while Donald pulled at his collar. “They aren’t-”

“ANYWAY!” Donald suddenly yelled. “That’s not important. What  _ is _ important-” he flourished a parchment. From where, Sora didn’t know. “-the guest list!”

“Yup! Knowin’ who to invite is a big part. Then you plan around them!”

“Riku and Kairi are coming up with their own lists. We’ll probably have some overlap,” Sora noted.

_ You know who I want to invite too _ .

“You don’t  _ get _ invites, Roxas. Me, Riku, and Kairi are getting married,” Sora noted.

_ I’m a part of you. So, technically, I’m getting married too. Even if you don’t agree. _

“Ugh.” Sora rubbed his head. Then he started, “Okay. So, all of my friends.”

“Me and Donald are gettin’ invites, aren’t we?” Goofy asked.

“Of course! In fact…” Sora elbowed both of them. “I expect you to be up front with me as my groomsmen!”

“Gawrsh! Really?”

“Really. You’ll be up there right beside Tidus and Wakka.”

“Hooo boy.” Donald scratched his head with his staff. “Gonna need babysitters.”

“Why not let them all come?” Sora suggested.

“The boys would  _ mean _ well…” Donald said leadingly.

“...But they would try to ‘make things better’,” Goofy finished.

“I’m fine with that,” Sora said easily. “I want this wedding to be a blast!” Still, his stomach was turning at the idea that things would go Wrong.

“If you say so,” Goofy said.

“Right. So,” Sora began counting, “You, Donald, Huey, Dewey, Luey, Max…”

“Can’t forget Mickey, Minnie, and Daisy,” Donald added.

“What about Aladdin and Jasmine? And the other Princesses of Heart?” Goofy threw in.

“And Beast, and Tarzan, and Jack…” Sora began sweating again.

“Everyone at Radiant Garden-”

“-including the faeries!”

“Okay.” He swallowed hard. “And Darkwing and Kim Possible, too.” He still owed Kim for the save on the mission to stop Drakken from using Heartless to power his Destruction Wave Amplifier. And Darkwing was a good, solid friend from their most recent adventure.

“And their sidekicks.”

“Darkwing’s daughter, Gosalyn, and...uh…” Sora scratched his head. For some baffling reason, he forgot Kim’s partner’s name. Instead of admitting it out loud, he said, “Yeah, them.”

“And of course you can’t forget your parents.”

Sora blinked. Again, he’d somehow forgotten he had parents. It wasn’t the first time, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

Though…

“I’ll have to think about them,” Sora admitted. Already, his list was bigger than he expected.

“You’ll also need to invite the Mad Hatter and Hare, Hercules, Phil, Pooh, Merlin…”

A lot bigger.

* * *

“Okay. So.” Kairi, Riku, and Sora had come together on their little island to agree on everything. “Radiant Garden?”

“We’ve got it. Reserved in a few weeks.” Kairi looked over at Riku. “Guest list?”

“Finalized.  _ Most _ of them are from Sora and his adventures,” Riku noted with a chuckle.

“Heeeeey. Not all of them!” Sora complained.

“Just most,” Kairi agreed with Riku cheekily.

“Sending out invites?” Sora looked between his partners. “How are we gonna do that? There’s too many of them to go person to person.”

“Magic?” Kairi suggested.

“Hm?” The two boys looked at her.

“Like with my letter to you that reached you in the Dark Margins.” Kairi looked out to the ocean. “I remember how I did it. I can do it again.”

“That’s a lot of invites to send out like that!” Sora exclaimed.

“It’s okay. I got it,” Kairi said. Jokingly, she grabbed her arm and flexed. “I’m a big girl!”

“Okay. Invites are good. Decorations?”

“I say leave that up to our friends. It’ll be one less mess we have to deal with,” Riku said as he stretched.

“Right. I don’t think they’d mind much.” Sora looked out to the ocean. “Y’know, this is going a lot more smoothly than I thought it would.”

“That’s because we haven’t actually started doing anything yet,” Riku noted. “Speaking of, maybe we should get started?”

“I’ll start on the invites,” Kairi said.

“I’ll get our friends together to start on decoration planning!” Sora volunteered.

“That leaves me to go to the castle and scope out how we’re going to arrange things,” Riku said. He leaned over and kissed both Kairi and Sora on the cheeks. “Don’t worry. We got this.”

“Heck yeah we do!” Sora agreed more enthusiastically than he felt. The worry still sat heavy in his gut.

“Hey.” Kairi reached over and took Sora’s hand. “Don’t worry. We really do have this.”

Was he that easy to read?

_ Yes, you are _ .

“I think I’ll feel better once everything is ready,” Sora said slowly.

“Then we’d better get started,” Riku said. He began walking away to the loading point for the Gummy ship.

“Right.” Kairi turned and went towards the little bungalow they had set up in addition to their clubhouse.

That left Sora to get with their friends to plan everything out. Following slowly behind Riku, Sora sighed. Hopefully this would all go the way they wanted.


	4. Chapter 4

Tarzan sat at the edge of his watering hole, drinking a handful of water. The day had been good. Jane was off exploring the tip-top of the trees where even apes didn’t go. He was keeping an ear out for her. She had an interesting way of getting into trouble.

He bent down to take another sip when something caught his eye.

A bottle. A small thing with a cork and something inside it. Somehow it hadn’t gotten trampled by the bathing elephants. It was floating straight for him.

Tarzan ventured farther into the water to grab it. He carefully - then not-so-carefully - opened it and pulled out the letter.

* * *

Aladdin had been walking in the bazaar when something strange registered. Or, more accurately, registered with Abu who promptly drew Aladdin’s attention to it.

In the fountain. There was a bottle with a letter in it! Curiosity itching, he pulled it out and opened it.

* * *

“-Cupcake~”

Kim growled as Shego taunted her. Even in college she was haunted by Drakken and Shego! When would they ever learn?!

“Hey, uh, KP? There’s this thing here that I think is for us?”

The two women turned to Ron who was holding a grimey bottle. If Kim had to guess, he’d retrieved it from the flowing river of crud that was spilling from Drakken’s broken machine.

Suddenly Ron was shoved forward as Drakken snatched the bottle from his hands.

“I’ll take that, Buffoon!” Drakken tried to break the bottle dramatically against the side of his machine to no avail as Ron stood back up. Rolling her eyes, Shego tossed a small plasma ball at the bottle. It shattered in Drakken’s hands. He growled, “Be more _careful_ , Shego!”

“Like I care about not hurting you.”

“Bah!” Drakken rolled open the paper and began reading aloud.

* * *

“I’ll get you someday, Pan!”

“You wish, Hook!” Peter cheered as he flew past the broken sails of Captain Hook’s ship. It was one of his more successful raids against the pirate crew, what with him being able to give Smee a wedgie and make Hook fall down the stairs. It was an all-around fun time!

Tinker Bell spoke up just then.

“Hm? What?” Peter looked down into the water below them where she was pointing.

Floating just under them, almost bumping against the side of Hook’s ship, was a bottle. A bottle with a message inside of it!

“Oh ho! Let’s go, Tink!” He zoomed down, fake-walking cockily along the top of the water, as a mermaid seemed to also take notice of the bottle. Just as she was picking it up to examine it, Peter plucked it from her hands. He swiftly gained air, Tinker Bell following close behind him.

Once he was high enough, he settled down on a cloud couch. He stuck his knife in the cork and wrenched it out. Then he pulled out the letter and began reading.

* * *

_To our Dearest Friend Mulan_

_Mr’s Sora and Riku and Ms Kairi invite you to share in their joy on a day of matrimony. The three shall join together and confirm their bond exists for now and ever. Please RSVP by checking the option below or confirm no attendance by checking the other box. A speedy response is requested._

“Signed, Kairi,” Mulan finished reading aloud. “It also notes that I can bring a plus one.”

“Sorry man,” Mushu said to Li Shang who was busy playing with the baby. “Looks like you’re on diaper duty while Mulan and I go bust a rug!”

“Ah, but do pets _count_?” Li Shang sniped back cheekily.

“You and your smart mouth,” Mushu complained. He turned to Mulan. “You absolutely know that you _have_ to take me, right?” He rushed over and jumped up, grabbing Mulan by her hair and pulling her face close. “I mean, it’s Sora! I _gotta_ be there, man!”

“It’s up to you, Mulan,” Li Shang said. “I won’t be upset if you don’t take me even with how grateful I feel towards Sora and his friends.”

“But _I_ will!” Mushu shouted.

“Hmm…” Mulan thought on it…

* * *

Kairi picked out one last bottle from the ocean. She cheered, “That’s all of them!”

She knew the beach was empty save for herself. It still felt appropriate to celebrate. It had been a long several days of waiting for everyone to respond!

This one looked strangely dirty, like it had gone through a river of gunk. Curious. Ah well. Maybe they were from a particularly dirty world?

She uncorked the bottle to read the reply. It was the one they’d sent to Woody and Buzz, the one that gave both of them a plus one. As expected, they’d written in Bo Peep and Jessie. Unexpectedly, it was written on with crayon. Weren’t they still with Andy? Then again, by this point he should be a lot older...they probably moved on to a different child.

Well then. That was everyone. They had a few regrettable abstains - most notably, Cinderella and Aurora had called out - but overall most of their friends were going to make it. Even Alice had RSVP’d, and she was probably the most elusive to even get time with!

Kairi sighed happily. She was going to be bound together in front of everyone they cared about to the two people she loved more than the world. Riku, her rock, and Sora, her shield. The two that loved her back just as much.

_I care about you_ _too_ Namine protested.

”Not like that,” Kairi said. She could feel the acceptance of her Nobody.

Again, she felt blessed. This would be the best thing to happen to them. She could feel it.


	5. Chapter 5

“And there!” Merryweather finished sprucing up the balcony on the castle. Below them would be the wedding of the millenia. It wasn’t often that destined Keyblade wielders got married, let alone three of them to each other! It required a gentle touch. A colorful touch. A touch of wondrous warmth that only she and her fellow fae could grant!

The blues she’d chosen were bright. Happy. Brilliant choices for the marriage of Sora, Riku, and Princess Kairi! It was an excellent representation of the emotions that Sora always conveyed to everyone.

“What do you think, gir-” She was cut off as she realized that Flora and Fauna had gone on their merry way to completely wreck the color scheme! Flora’s section was a blinding array of red that would set a bull off and Fauna’s section was so blandly green that a cow could’ve mistaken it for a pasture! Angrily she said, “ _ What _ do you two think you’re doing?!”

“I’m going for a fiery passionate look that captures the fire that burns in Riku’s heart,” Flora said. “That child is fierce and powerful!”

“Well,  _ I’m _ trying to highlight the gentle warmth of Kairi’s soul,” Fauna insisted. “Something that brings out the care that everyone feels just by being near her.”

“You two…!” Merryweather couldn’t  _ believe _ them! “This is about the three of them!”

“Like your colors aren’t meant for Sora!” Fauna complained. “It’s obvious they are! The mellow blues for the sadness he carries…”

“Nono, it’s  _ bright _ blue. For the warmth he has and the happiness he brings!” Merryweather defended before snapping a hand over her mouth. The other two looked pleased as punch.

“See?”

“I  _ knew _ it!”

“Ohhhh, you’re going to get it now!” Merryweather flicked her wand at Fauna’s side. The greens shifted to dark blues more fitting for a funeral.

“How dare you!” Fauna meant to shoot right back but found her hand shoved away by Merryweather. Her magic ended up hitting Flora’s side, turning everything a blinding neon green.

Soon enough, the three fae were blasting magic this way and that, trying to get a one-up on each other. Colors were shifted so much that they began to bleed into a tie-dye of messy mismatched colors.

Their bickering was finally stopped by the cry of, “Hey! Can you please calm down a little?”

They all turned towards the voice. Riku was looking up at them, dispassion in his gaze. Clearly he was displeased.

“We were having a  _ disagreement _ on colors,” Flora said, glaring at the other two.

“You mean the colors that I said you had carte blanche on picking?” Riku said in a rather rude manner.

“Well…” Merryweather shifted. “We couldn’t decide who was right.”

“So instead of talking about it, you decide to try and destroy the decorations?”

When he said it like  _ that _ it seemed like a colossally bad idea!

“How about you each get a section?” Riku suggested.

“Like we originally had?” Fauna said, scandalized. “But then they would clash!”

“Clashing doesn’t matter. What does matter is our feelings and our connections to each other.” The look in his eyes had changed. There was the fiery passion that Flora had talked about earlier!

“Okay. We’ll fix it,” Flora said.

“Good. Because we don’t have that much time left…” Riku looked up at the sun. “We’re getting married in a few days. I know we’re decorating a bit early, but I want all this to be perfect for them.”

“For  _ you three _ ,” Merryweather corrected. “This should all be perfect for you as well.”

“Right.” Riku nodded. “So, can I trust you three to get the job done?”

“Of course you can!” Merryweather began fussing with her section of the castle. “We’ll have it all together again before you can say-”

“Bippity-boppity-boo?” Riku suggested with a grin.

“Wrong fairy godmother,” Flora said stiffly, clearly not wanting to get the joke.

“You’re such a sourpuss,” Merryweather grumbled.

“ _ I’m _ the sourpuss?”

“Yes you are!” Fauna agreed. Below them Merryweather caught Riku put his palm on his face before he threw his hands up in the air and went back inside the castle.

Merryweather didn’t think much on it. Instead, she started, “I remember back when Aurora was a child-”

\--------------------------

“Oh boy oh boy!” Gosalyn bounced around on the castle railing, looking this way and that around the castle at the town below. They were some of the first to arrive for the wedding. They were several days early, in fact, with plans to stay in the town. “This is crazy! This is so crazy I  _ think I might die _ !”

“Now now, Gosalyn. Now’s not the time to be like that. We have to be calm. Cool. Above reproach and like an average father and daughter,” Drake said to her.

“Then why are you still in your Darkwing gear?” Gosalyn asked flatly.

He sniffed. “They know me as Darkwing.”

“Uh-huh. Right.” Then, thinking aloud, she noted, “They did send the invite to the wrong Drake, though. So that kinda explains that.”

“I can’t believe Negaduck was actually nice enough to give me that letter,” Drake said with some disbelief.

“It’s probably because his bombs somehow keep showing up on our doorstep and you’re  _ kind _ enough to send them right back!” Gosalyn laughed.

“That could be part of it,” Drake agreed, not catching the joke behind the statement.

“I wish Launchpad could’ve come,” she definitely did not whine.

“Someone had to stay behind to protect our fair citizens! You never know when the Fearsome Five are going to strike! They may take this as the opportunity of a lifetime to pull off a megaheist!”

“For what?” Gosalyn had stopped mid-pulling on the arm of a gargoyle that was on a ledge that she shouldn’t be on. “The museums are even closed! There’s no exhibits to raid and F.O.W.L. is defunct!”

“They’ll grab...something. Something sinister.” The claim was said darkly but there was a layer of confusion behind it like it was completely making it up.

“Whatever.” Gosalyn jumped down to rejoin her father at the top of the stairs. “So, where are our digs?”

“Ah-ah-ah!” Drake shook his finger at his daughter. “First we need to congratulate the happy coup-erm, throuple on their engagement and upcoming wedding!  _ Then _ we can get settled in.”

“Okay then! Let’s go find them!” Gosalyn grabbed Drake’s hand and began dragging him inside. They passed under some garishly clashing decorations before entering the main castle.

It didn’t take long to find them. They were huddled together at the back of the large open room that appeared to be a ballroom of some sort. It wasn’t until they got close that they realized that Sora was crying.

“-so happy…” he said, wiping at his face.

“It’s okay. I’m happy we’re together too!” Kairi took one of his hands.

“Same here.” Riku took Sora’s other hand. “I think-”

“Is this...a bad time?” Drake asked at probably the worst time. Gosalyn struggled not to facepalm.

The three others looked at the two ducks.

“No! It’s fine,” Sora said thickly. “I’m just...overwhelmed.”

“Weddings can be like that!” Drake said, clearly not reading the room. He edged over to Sora and slapped a hand on his shoulder. “Now, one thing you need to keep in mind about things is that this is all just tinsel and pomp. None of it matters like your relationship does!”

“I know, I know...I just…” Sora grabbed his partners and pulled them close. “I don’t want to lose them ever again!”

“This is a step towards that happening!” Drake said. Then he corrected, “I mean a step towards not losing them again. Because you know what?” Drake poked Sora in the chest. “You’ll be connected by your hearts. Nothing can take a connection like that away. Nothing.”

“Right right right. And rainbows and unicorns will lead you to the pot of gold,” Gosalyn butted in. She grabbed her father’s arm and began dragging him away. Loudly she said, “How about we not bother the happy throuple when they’re clearly having a moment. Okay? Okay. Let’s go!”

“But-” Gosalyn grabbed his beak and forced it closed as she dragged him out of the room and back out of the palace.

The three of them could thank her later.

\-------------------------

Sora watched them leave. The tears were still flowing, but less. The words Darkwing said...they struck him. It was one thing to hear from his partners who would be slightly biased in their views. An entirely different thing to hear someone else say it.

“I’m sorry,” he gasped out. “I just…”

“Shhh. We know.” To Sora’s surprise, Riku was the one that pulled him close first. Kairi followed right behind him, wrapping both of them up. Sora buried his head into both of their shoulders.

The feeling in his gut just wouldn’t go away. He wanted to say  _ so many things _ that simply didn’t have words.

The depth of his love.

The strength they give him.

How he was looking forward to forever with them.

For now, he would settle on simply hugging them as hard as he could and trying to show them how deep his feelings were.


	6. Chapter 6

Riku looked around the ballroom that had been decorated by all their precious friends. The lack of cohesion in the decorations - he could clearly see where Mickey had a hand in things, and he assumed the cutesy dog decorations were Goofy’s - was not a detraction. Instead, they spoke to the uniqueness of the connections between himself, Kairi, and Sora.

Riku hid a wince as his back burned. He pressed it down; there was no place for those powers here. For the reminders to his partners of darkness touching him as it had. It was a burden he still carried, and would always carry. His and his alone.

Trying to distract himself, he looked around trying to find his partners. He could see Sora in the back, goofing around with his friends Goofy and Donald. They were all in tuxedos of various types, with Goofy having not been able to resist having silly cufflinks while Donald used his staff as a cane. Kairi was in the back somewhere getting into her dress he would bet as she wasn’t around the other Princesses of Heart who had come.

The room was unsettled, speaking to the informalness between all of them. They were all connected together by their friendships. Even Beast, human as he was now, was still silently fierce with Belle tempering him. Everyone present was dressed in some type of fancy wear or other save for the Wonderland crew, Alice included. Dressing up didn’t seem to have even entered their minds.

Riku adjusted his own outfit. He simply didn’t feel quite right with a classic tuxedo, having instead opted for a full dress tuxedo with a shawl lapel and wing collar. He wanted to look his best and a classic tuxedo was just...tired.

A quiet cough seemed to catch everyone’s attention. As it should have; King Mickey was standing in the middle of the aisle that had been set up between the multitude of seats. He was wearing a strange ensemble with too-long tailcoats and a conductor baton. Riku wasn’t really one to question clothing choices, but that came close.

“Attention everyone!” he said loudly, speaking over the little bits of chatter that still existed. “It’s time to take your seats!” While the crowds started organizing, Sora grabbing all of his groomsmen, Mickey said to Riku, “I’m glad you found your light, Riku. And other lights to help keep away the darkness.”

“They really are something,” Riku said with a small smile, looking over at his fellow groom. He could see Kairi in his mind’s eye getting into her wedding dress. Both of his loved ones…

“Keep them close, Riku. You never know when the darkness will come again. The light from all our hearts will keep it at bay,” Micky noted solemnly.

Riku nodded. “I’m never going to let them go.”

“Good.” Mickey took his place at the head of the room, ready to read the little bit that they had agreed on for vows. It wasn’t much. Just enough to try and make it worth everyone’s while to have come.

Soon, it would be time.

* * *

“This is stupid.” Shego couldn’t help but to say the obvious out loud. It was a perfect statement for the situation.

“Nonsense, Shego. This is  _ perfect _ !” Drakken waved at the walls of Radiant Garden. “All we have to do is break down this barrier and use the Differential Diffuser to disrupt the wedding! Then-”

“ _ Then _ we can get our revenge on those Keyblade nincompoops and our arch-foe lackeys,” Negaduck butted in.

“But...why the zippers?” Bushroot asked as he pulled at the pants they had forced him into.

“Yeah, why the zippers?” Shego echoed peevishly. She traced a finger along the many,  _ many _ useless zippers that now lined her catsuit.

“We need to fit in,” Drakken said simply. He played with one of the zippers along his collar. “Zippers are the hip thing in fashion here.”

“Ugh.” Shego would’ve protested more but felt that it would’ve been doubly wasted effort, what with the five chumps backing Doctor D up. Instead, she shrugged. “Eh. Whatever. I’m still getting paid.”

“I wish  _ we _ got paid,” Quackerjack complained.

“Shut up, you…!” Negaduck waved a fist at him. “You do what  _ I _ say, with  _ or _ without pay!”

The four others in their troupe quivered in fear at his threat while Shego simply rolled her eyes. As they bickered, Drakken took a small device from his pocket and set it against the wall. It beeped several times before turning black. A dark aura lashed out from it and ripped a hole in the visible forcefield. Then, almost on a cue, Negaduck blasted the walls open with a rather cavalierly-handled rocket launcher.

“Where do you even  _ keep _ that stuff?” Shego couldn’t help but to ask.

“Negaspace,” Negaduck grumbled as Megavolt and Bushroot bickered over who would go first while Quackerjack simply bounced on a pogostick through the hole.

“Soon, vengeance will be  _ ours _ !” Drakken boasted as he began fighting with the other two on who got to go in first.

A bad feeling rolled through Shego’s gut for a second. She paused; normally, she listened to her instincts. This was all going to end up Bad News.

But her idiot boss - the closest thing a villain had to a friend - was going through with it. She was the most likely way he would survive his cockamamy scheme. So she would go through with it.

Even though it was probably the worst idea.

* * *

“This is all just SO EXCITING!” Rapunzel gushed as she finished up styling Kairi’s hair. “Ohhhhh, I’ve never been to a wedding before! Just read about them!”

“It isn’t like a normal wedding,” Kairi couldn’t help but to admit as she tried to stay as still as possible. Her friends were still working on her, after all. It would’ve been rude to ruin all their hard work.

“It’s close enough!” Rapunzel cheered. She snatched up some of the preselected accessories and began weaving them into Kairi’s hair. “All the pomp, and glamour, and knowing  _ just what you want _ …!”

“I wouldn’t exactly say this was everything I wanted,” Kairi again admitted.

“Whaaaaaat?!” Rapunzel stared as Jasmine and Snow White were finishing up applying fingernail polish to her toes and fingers. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“I was…” She wasn’t sure how to say it. “I...my partners wanted their friends to all be here with us. I was hoping for something a bit more intimate.”

“Why not do that after this?” Snow White suggested.

“Or you could just walk out right now and do your dream wedding!” Rapunzel said. “You shouldn’t settle for something that you don’t want.”

“This isn’t just about me. This is about my grooms too.”

_ It makes me happy that you recognize that, Kairi. I just wish I could watch. _

“Kairi.” Jasmine paused her application on the last pinky and laid a hand on Kairi’s. “I think you should do what your heart tells you. Are you okay going through with a wedding like this? Are you against it? Would you be fine with a ceremony after this?”

Kairi thought about it for a second. “...Yeah. This wedding can be for them. The next ceremony can be for me. We’ll all get what we want.”

“Okay! Problem solved!” Rapunzel put in the last hair piece with a little more force than necessary.

The door burst open then. A small duck with pigtails walked in, dressed in a tuxedo shirt.

“Okay! Kairi! It’s time! Get ‘er up and get goin’!” Gosalyn shouted. Then, taking in the scene, she hissed, “ _ You’re still not done _ ?!”

“Aaaaand now she is!” Rapunzel said as Jasmine and Snow White finished their applications. Kairi cast a quick Blizzard to dry the nail polish.

She hopped up from her chair and nodded. “We’re coming!”

“Good!” Gosalyn leaned her head out the door and shouted, “We’re ready!” She then ushered Kairi to the door. “What’re you waitin’ for? It’s time for merrily ever after or whatever it’s called!”

“It sure is!” Rapunzel could barely contain her excitement as she bounced from foot to foot. “Ohhhh…!”

Kairi took a breath in, then out. They were right. It was time.

* * *

It waited in the darkness. All those hearts, calling out to It...It would have been vexed if It could have. All It was was hungry. Desperate for those things that would fill the hole even a little bit.

Then, a crack. A small thing that was barely anything to poke at. But it would be enough. It  _ had _ to be enough. The  _ need _ pressed against It. It  _ had _ to have those hearts.

So it began picking at the crack. And little by little, it opened up more and more.


	7. Chapter 7

Sora and Riku stood up with Mickey, flanked by their best men. If Riku could’ve picked, Mickey would’ve been his best man. But Mickey had wanted to be the person reading the vows and give the important speech.

For some reason, Riku really wanted to get it all over with. The burning of his aftereffects of darkness and transforming it into life were feeling worse, and he just wanted to be able to hold Sora and Kairi, as sappy as that was. The pressure he was feeling was strange; it was like he wasn’t getting what he’d asked for.

The thing was, he  _ was _ getting what he asked for.

But was that what he’d actually wanted?

All he’d wanted was to be bound to Kairi and Sora for eternity. He wanted his heart to always be with theirs. Did it really require all this fanfare?

The wedding music began playing. It was a little late for regrets. All he could do was go through with the pomp and have a more meaningful ceremony later.

* * *

“So?” Aladdin whispered to Jasmine who had sat down with him after sneaking there. People underestimated her ability to move without being seen, or handle herself in a fight. Seeing her work her skills made Aladdin proud. “How does she look?”

“Gorgeous,” Jasmine murmured. “She’ll knock Sora and Riku’s shoes off.”

“Good! They deserve it.” Aladdin chuckled as he corrected himself. “I mean, not like  _ that _ but you know what I mean.”

“I know.” Jasmine sighed as the people began their march into the ballroom. Lilo was spreading flower petals while Stitch followed behind her eating them back up. “I hope my wedding will be this nice.”

Aladdin smiled. “I’m sure it will be. I’ll do my best to make it so! Maybe Genie would be willing to help?”

“I bet he would. He might even whip up an entire new palace just for the occasion!” Jasmine laughed a little too loudly.

“You’re talking as if I’m not even here,” Genie complained from Aladdin’s other side.

“We’re talking between us,” Aladdin noted. “It’s your fault if you eavesdrop.”

Abu chattered at them, pointing to the back of the room. Aladdin and Jasmine turned just as everyone else did.

“Wow.” Aladdin stared. “You were right.”

“Of course I was. I  _ was _ one of her helpers,” Jasmine preened.

“Which begs the question: why aren’t you up there with her?” Aladdin asked.

Jasmine grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I didn’t want to leave you alone too long. All these princesses that might need saving…”

Aladdin smirked. “There’s only one princess I’m interested in.”

Abu then grabbed both of their faces and forced them forward. Aladdin resisted sighing and simply took it in stride. The warm hand in his helped to settle him. He was glad she was there. Otherwise he might be going as bonkers as he was sure Sora secretly was.

* * *

Everything was fine. Right? Right. Everything was under 100% control. Nope. Nothing bad going to happen.

_ Why are you freaking out? This is what you wanted, wasn’t it? Surrounded by friends, declaring your love for your partners and vowing to be with them always? _ Roxas couldn’t help but snipe.

“Yeah, but…” Sora mumbled as Lilo and Stitch took their places. The bridesmaids followed. Soon, Kairi would appear.

Riku looked smooth in his tuxedo. His was fancier than Sora’s, who opted for a basic old thing. His tie was loose as he couldn’t figure out how to tie it and he was too proud to ask for help with it. Not that Donald and Goofy would know either. Donald wore a clip-on most of the time.

All Sora wanted to do was run out of there with Kairi and Riku and go have their own private ceremony. He’d wanted to share with his friends so bad...but now…

Then Kairi walked in and Sora’s thoughts all vanished in an instant.

She was wearing a very non-traditional dress. It was tropical in nature, with a loose draped skirt that tied up on one hip and a flowing top that was decorated with emeralds, sapphires, and rubies along the hems. Thong sandals only accentuated her perfection. In her hair were seashells and starfish, with her hair styled around it like a crashing wave.

Kairi was practically  _ glowing _ , and Sora couldn’t tell if it was from happiness or from a magical effect. He spared a glance at Riku. Riku’s jaw was dropped just a little. It made Sora relax more.

This was all fine. Everything was fine.

Kairi was most of the way down the runway when a slamming noise echoed from the windows.

  
Then everything was decidedly  _ not _ fine.


	8. Chapter 8

“Okay. So, who’s going first?”

“Not it!” Drakken immediately cried. At everyone’s withering glares, he mumbled, “I won’t be able to break the glass.”

“By that admission of cowardice you’ve officially nominated yourself as the lead man,” Negaduck said. He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Drakken. “Use this to break the glass.”

“What is it?” Drakken looked down the hole of the thing that Negaduck had handed him. It looked like a ray gun with a hole in it!

“It’s a gun.”

Drakken rolled his eyes. “Yes, but what  _ kind _ ? Ice? Heat? Soni-”

“A kablooey gun that breaks stuff,” Shego explained brusquely. Drakken glared at her. He didn’t need her ganging up on him too! She snarked, “I expect you won’t want to look down the barrel unless you want a hole in your head.”

Drakken thought on her words for a second. “So it’s a hole gun?”

“...Yes. It’s a gun that makes holes.” Negaduck shoved Drakken towards the side of the roof that they had perched on. “Now hurry up and swing down there and break that glass so we can get in!”

“Alright, alright.” Drakken grumbled quietly to himself as he secured the rope to his midsection.

“Can’t you just use those vines to climb down?” Bushroot asked as he eyed Drakken. “I mean, when you have the tools…”

“Because I can’t control it,” Drakken said more loudly. “It’s like trying to tell a dog to shoot someone  _ with a ray gun _ .”

“Get out there, you nitwit!” Negaduck said, firmly kicking Drakken in the side to force him off the roof.

“AAAAHHHHHHH!” The rope pulled taut as he fell in an arch. Then he slammed solidly into the glass of the ballroom. It took a second for him to regain his senses. Once he had, he smirked.

Too easy!

He pulled the trigger on the gun. A bullet shot out, breaking through the glass and hitting a chandelier inside. Drakken pulled the gun back and stared. It had quite the punch to it. No  _ wonder _ Negaduck liked them! Maybe he’d be willing to give Drakken one or two? Training his vines to use them would be fun!

“Hi-yah!” Suddenly the other six were swinging in around him. As they raided the ballroom, Drakken tried to disconnect the rope so he could try to get in. It was some kind of complicated knot, so Drakken wasn’t sure how to untangle it.

Curses! He was stuck hanging! He  _ could  _ try the hole gun on it...but he might hit himself. Having a hole in his body would definitely not be fun.

Finally, after trying to swim through the air to gain momentum to get through the hole, he reluctantly called his plants into action. While several of them ignored his attempted instructions to simply fawn all over him with flowers, a few actually  _ listened _ and wrapped their tendrils around the window. Then they sharply pulled him in.

Too sharply.

He found himself flying through the air above the mayhem the Fearsome Five and Shego were starting and lodging clean into a chandelier. Feeling airsick from all the spinning, Drakken tried to steady himself along the strands holding the chandelier to the ceiling.

That was when it registered just  _ what _ chandelier he’d landed in. He gulped as the frayed strands of the chandelier snapped, sending him falling to the ground.

Drakken crashed solidly into the ground, rolling among the pieces of broken glass as he went. The sharp pieces cut into his labcoat and gloves, and he could  _ feel _ several slivers stuck in his face.

Before he could begin trying to pick them out, he looked up to find he was surrounded.

“Crashing the party?  _ So _ last season,” his arch-foe, Kim Possible, just  _ had _ to quip.

“Kim Possible!” He shook his fist at her. “You think you’re all that, but you’re-”

The words died on his tongue as suddenly  _ everything _ went dark.

Correction, as he looked around: everything  _ outside _ went dark.

“Is this another weather machine thing?” Kim Possible’s dopey sidekick asked. “That’s kinda weird. Since when do you redo plots?”

“I’m not!” Drakken barked, his frustration overcoming his fear. “I’m more creative than  _ that _ !”

The blonde thought for a second. “Okay, I’m lost. What is it?”

“Heartless…” All of them turned towards a gaping Daisy. She was staring unblinking at the darkness out the window. Then she screamed, “HEARTLESS!”

The other windows blew out at that moment. Then, like slithering vipers, black tentacles began flowing into the room. Darkness dripped from them, and from those drops other Heartless formed.

It was a living behemoth hive factory Heartless. Drakken couldn’t even see the edges of it out the window. Everything was black, empty. A void that was ready to eat them all.

Drakken did the only thing he could think of whenever he was scared out of his mind.

“SHEGO!”

Then the blackness erupted throughout the room.


	9. Chapter 9

Great. Juuuust great.

Shego couldn’t _believe_ how things were turning out. Not only did Drakken completely botch the surprise part of the attack, but now there was some kind of MEGA Heartless that was trying to eat them all! If she could have, she would’ve simply walked out the door and left all of them to distract the Heartless.

But, somehow, she’d lost track of the doc. She’d have to find him before she could escape.

Shego dodged this way and that between the mini-fights between the various types of Heartless and the wedding guests. A wave of water that must have been that dope Liquidator cut her off, forcing her to frontflip over him.

Where _was_ that loser?

“You!”

Shego stopped looking around to find someone blocking her path. He must have been a prince of some sort. Kinda scruffy, but well-managed and well-dressed like one of the princesses.

A light clicked on.

“Ohhh, you must be _Beast_ ,” Shego laughed. “All human with no bite.” She made a ‘come hither’ motion. “C’mon. You want me to pay for wrecking your wedding?”

“My friends deserved better than to have low-class _scum_ like you ruin their union,” he growled at her.

“Don’t you think you have a little something else more important than lil’ ol’ me to worry about?” She waved around them. “Or do you not care about your friends being Heartless bait?”

Beast looked around. He still angrily stared her down. Shego could tell that she’d won, though, as he was relaxing his stance.

Her attention was taken by Doctor D _finally_ deciding to make an appearance.

“Shego! I can’t believe this is happening!” Drakken pulled at his hair. “How did this even happen?!”

“Beats me.”

“Hahaha! Very funny!” Drakken rushed over to her. “Come on! We need to-” Suddenly his eyes went wide as he began screaming her name.

It was all a blur. Nothing made sense. Shego looked down slowly to find a blackness that was piercing _through_ her chest. Her heart was visible, but as she watched it was sucked into the empty void.

It felt hunger then. Its form expanded in the blackness. Its claws grew sharper, the green flame that It commanded enveloping Its body as spikes formed in patterns across its body. Its empty gaze looked out and saw all the hearts that It could take.

Take It would.

It then noticed a heart standing, gaping at It in horror. A blue heart. He was babbling something or other in a language beyond Its reckoning.

It should want to eat him. But no. There was something about him that It didn’t want to eat.

So, instead, It picked him up with one claw and stuck its other flaming fingers through his middle. Then, twisting him, It tore his middle clean out. Gore coated Its claws. That was fine.

Now It could finally fill the void in Itself. It looked past the corpse of the heart to another heart. A scruffy heart.

It licked Its lips in mockery. Easy pickings.

* * *

Riku jumped to the side as another tentacle of blackness tried to grab at him. The tentacles were slow for the most part. Even with that, Riku could see others beginning to get overwhelmed. Peter Pan was surrounded in the air by flying Heartless. Adam was fighting some kind of green flaming Heartless. Aladdin and Jasmine were both taking turns flanking and attacking the Heartless around them.

They needed to turn this around!

“Sora! Kairi!” Riku called out. If they could use their Drive Form…!

“Riku!” His head snapped to the left as Kairi cleared a path to him with Aeroga. He flourished his Keyblade through the helpless Heartless just as Kairi did the same. They met in the middle and swiftly hugged.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Kairi sighed.

“We all do kinda draw trouble like a sponge,” Riku noted dryly. Dispensing of the humor, he said, “Where’s Sora? We need him to use his Drive Form with us!”

Kairi looked around the madness surrounding them. It was so hard to see…

“There!” she shouted, pointing to the edge of the room.

Riku looked out to find that she was right! Sora was in Final Form at the moment, Goofy and Donald gone to power it. Oblivion and Oathkeeper whipped around him as he fought back against the various smaller Heartless. For some reason the tentacles were avoiding him.

“We need to get to him!” Riku said.

“But how? The only clear space is in the air!” Kairi noted. “We’d need to get through all the fighting to get there.”

“...I have a way.” Riku hated it. He hated it _so much_. But the safety of his friends and loved ones was far more important to him than their opinion of him.

“How?”

“This.” Riku let the power flow out. Wings, bat-like and clawed, erupted from his back. He winced; it was a good thing this wasn’t a rental.

“Oh! Riku!” Kairi stared at him. Not in the way he expected her to, though. It was with more awe than horror. “They’re so cute!”

“ _Cute_?!” He flushed. Nope. Definitely not the reaction he thought he’d get.

“Oh Riku...did you think we’d be upset about you having wings?” Kairi sounded hurt. “You know we love you! Neither me nor Sora would ever abandon you over something like that.”

Riku’s heart fell. “But-”

“No ‘but’s,” Kairi said, resting a finger on his lips.

“I know you two are having a moment and all, but could you _hurry it up_?!” Darkwing shouted as he shot out another glob of gunk to stop the Heartless trying to attack Kairi and Riku in their tracks.

“Uh, sorry.” Riku felt even more abashed at that. Instead of giving in to his embarrassment, he floated up into the air and held his hand out to Kairi. “Ready?”

She smiled and took his hand. “Always when I’m with you.”

* * *

She scanned the room. There were plenty of targets to hit. Plenty of villains to stop. Plenty of monsters to destroy!

And she would! Quiverwing Quack was the best superhero ever besides Darkwing. She would protect the innocent! Right wrongs! Triumph over evil!

“And that means you,” she quipped as she let loose a series of arrows. They all struck true, hitting the Heartless below her straight in their not-heart and destroying them where they stood.

Her compatriots below all breathed a sigh of relief at that. Alice had been trapped by what looked like strange twisted Heartless versions of the Mad Hatter and Hare. But that was ridiculous. That would mean-

She swallowed as she realized that it _did_ mean that. Quiverwing Quack looked around, realizing that was _exactly_ what was happening.

It wasn’t the small Heartless doing it. No. It was the big, monster one that was dripping them from its many-branching tentacles. Watching, she saw it sneak forward below Peter Pan.

“Look out!” she cried as she loosened a barrage of arrows to try and stop it from swallowing him.

“Wha-” was all he got out before a large spike struck out from the shadow. It pierced him clean in the middle, his guts sliding down the spike. Quiverwing swallowed the bile as she realized he was still alive. He looked at her, blood leaking from his nose, before the shadow of the spike rose up and swallowed him whole.

Her arrows had done nothing. She’d been helpless to stop it.

Fear tore at her gut as the shadow suddenly ballooned before peeling open like a flower. The fear turned to horror as the twisted form of what had been Peter Pan arose. Dragonfly wings had burst from his back, with an extra set of arms that all now ended in scythe-like extensions lining his torso. Many holes that were mock eyes looked out around it.

Then at her.

“Oh boy.” Quiverwing Quack lined up one of her special arrows as Heartless Peter Pan came for her. She loosened it, and another, and another, backing up on the chandelier she had positioned herself on to try and get away from the main fighting so she could pepper from a distance.

For this, her arrows did something. They pierced Heartless Peter Pan through the wings, the force enough to drop him clean from the sky. As he fell into the crowd below, Quiverwing breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she sucked the breath right back in as the other flying Heartless took notice of her.

“Gosalyn! What are you _doing_ up there? _How did you even get up there_?!” she heard her adoptive father shout up at her.

“I’m providing tactical support!” she hollered down as she began to shoot all around her.

“You’re going to get hurt!”

“Like I’m any safer down there?!” she retorted. A Heartless got too close then, necessitating her whacking it with her bow.

“Just, just stay out of the way!” Drake shouted.

“Aye aye, captain!” she mumbled petulantly.

“What? I can’t hear you!” Drake loudly yelled.

“AYE AYE, CAPTAIN!”

“Ohhhhhhh…” Drake looked like he was about to blow a gasket. Instead, he jumped into the fray between Adam and a flaming green Heartless.

Quiverwing huffed. She never got the credit she deserved!


	10. Chapter 10

Sora felt _invincible_.

He was wiping the floor with the Heartless, as were his friends. He didn’t even know why it had been so scary for him before. Heartless were a breeze! Especially these mindless ones. And with Final Form active? The only thing stronger was his, Kairi, and Riku’s Drive Form.

Speaking of, where _were_ they? If they didn’t come soon, his drive gauge would be depleted! Not that it mattered. Soon enough they would all be gone and the wedding could resume.

His attention was taken by a strange Heartless. It looked like a boss monster, with tattered see-through wings, multiple arms, and backwards legs. There was something about it, though…

Sora shook it off. Whatever it was wouldn’t do for getting distracted like that. That was how accidents happened!

He charged forward with Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Sora spun around, loosening a whirlwind of blades at the boss Heartless. It screamed before falling backwards away from him. Then, its head distending, a small stream of what looked like little knives came bursting from its mouth.

He easily dodged around it. A laugh escaped his lips at the joy of being able to stop these things in their tracks. A one-two swipe of his Keyblades left the Heartless on the ground, shaking, before it disappeared in a burst of darkness.

“One down!” He looked around. “Who’s next?”

_You’re being too cavalier about this_ Roxas said stiffly. _The others aren’t as adept as you at killing Heartless._

“What’s adept about it?” Sora asked as he ran into a crowd that was surrounding Aladdin and Jasmine.

_Heartless aren’t a joke! You’re treating them as nuisances!_

“But...they _are_.”

Before Roxas could reply, Sora caught sight of Riku and Kairi...flying to him? Looking more closely, he realized that wings were growing out of Riku’s back.

Sora couldn’t keep the smirk off his face. He _knew_ it! The dream was real!

“Kairi! Riku!” Sora deactivated Drive Form. Donald and Goofy rejoined the fight as his two partners set down in front of him. He laughed. “Can you believe this mess?”

“Sora…” Kairi frowned. “Why are you laughing?”

“It’s just a few Heartless,” Sora noted flippantly. “Just gotta wipe out what there is and get the wedding back on track.”

“Are you really not paying attention?!” Riku sharply waved at the crowd. “People are _dying_! You aren’t wondering where these boss Heartless are coming from?”

“I, I mean…” Sora _hadn’t_ thought about it. But now that Riku said it, he realized that the only Heartless coming from the blackness were average everyday ones. As he looked around, Sora finally recognized a few of them.

The flaming green Heartless that Darkwing had hogtied and Adam had cut clean through looked similar to Kim’s enemy, Shego.

That dragonfly Heartless...it made him think of Peter Pan.

There was a monstrous four-legged Heartless crashing about across the room that looked like a twisted version of Bambi.

Fauna and Merryweather were struggling against a bulb on one of the tentacles. From it burst a red fae Heartless that _must_ have been Flora.

All of his precious friends...his gut clenched as he realized just _how many_ he had lost. Tears came unbidden and dripped down his face.

His fist clenched as he noticed...the tentacles. _That’s_ what it was. The tentacles for the monster Heartless!

“We need to beat the big one!” Sora cried out. He turned to face it alongside his partners.

“Right.” Riku grabbed Sora’s hand.

“I’m ready when you are!” Kairi said, grabbing his other hand.

“Okay.” Sora concentrated. He could feel the well of power inside of him, the one that Kairi and Riku provided. Their connections to him, to his heart, that no one could take away.

He tapped into it. The power flowed out, enveloping them-

* * *

It took everything It could.

The hearts inside were strong. Powerful. Each heart obtained temporarily made the emptiness leave.

Instants later, though, the emptiness grew. It needed to keep taking new hearts, to fill the new voids. There were still plenty of hearts left. Maybe enough to fill the void within Itself.

Suddenly, a light caught Its attention. It looked over into the battleground to see a bright heart. Heart **_s_ **. Three hearts glowing in unison, beating as one. From the light emerged a sacred creature. Even It realized the divinity of it.

It was a seraphim. One set of wings were white and feathered, the other set webbed and clawed. Its hair was a brilliant flowing gold, with flowing clothes of pink and black intertwined in a blocked pattern around it. One hand had a black Keyblade. The other had a white Keyblade. And between them was a strange golden filigreed Keyblade that glowed light blue. It almost seemed to be several Keyblades at once.

The seraphim looked at It with its three eyes and three hearts and It felt a spike of strange emotion. The fact that It felt _any_ emotion was strange.

It knew It didn’t like it. So It decided to make the seraphim stop.

All the tentacles It had redirected towards the seraphim. It surrounded the seraphim before moving in. There was no escape.

Suddenly It stopped short. Its tentacles hit _something_ and stopped a couple of meters away from the seraphim. The intense gaze it was giving It grew, and another emotion tore through It.

It suddenly didn’t want the hearts anymore. It wanted to flee. There was nothing here It wanted that was enough to risk the seraphim destroying It.

As swiftly as It could, It began pulling back. Leaving the hearts, leaving the little Heartless, leaving everything to _get away_ …!

It wasn’t fast enough. The seraphim zipped forward, a flying ball of endless light. It flew through the window, out of the building, into Its core-

The pain was unbearable. It was being destroyed down to Its building blocks. Nothing would be left of It if It couldn’t respond in turn.

It concentrated. An avatar of concentrated darkness grew in a bulb in Its core. Its large, rambling body condensed until It was reborn.

It was perfection. It was pure darkness. It would fend off the seraphim and run until It could recuperate in the far emptiness beyond all hearts.

It raised Its bladed arms as the seraphim swung its many Keyblades-


	11. Chapter 11

Sora, Riku, and Kairi’s Keyblades clashed into the Heartless’ weaponized arms. Belatedly they all realized that they had separated. No longer were they in their Drive Form.

Not a good time!

The Heartless seemed to realize something had happened. It swung its arms wide, forcing the three of them back. It towered above them now that they couldn’t fly, with a many-branched tail waving behind the quadruped with a human torso. The many limbs shifted in and out of reality as its empty eyes looked between them.

“Sora! What happened?” Kairi asked as Riku kept a guarded eye on the Heartless.

“My Drive Gauge ran out.” Sora sounded embarrassed.

“Quick! Use some Drive Recovery items!” Riku snapped. “We need to beat this thing!”

“Right!” Sora began digging in his pockets. He pulled out one and began drinking it.

The Heartless sank an arm into the ground. A shadow appeared under Sora.

“Look out!” Kairi jumped and tackled Sora, making him drop the Drive Recovery. She rolled with Sora as a flower burst from the ground and swallowed the empty air. Recovering quickly, Kairi jumped backwards and forced her Keyblade into the flower.

The Heartless flailed, pulling its now-leaking arm out of the ground and waving its numerous arms about. Its tails formed a circle around it before they began shooting forward like spears.

Riku growled as the three of them began dodging and dancing between the tails. If this thing didn’t let them breathe, Sora would never get to take a Drive Recovery! His brow furrowed; it was time to play the distraction.

“Kairi! Guard Sora while I distract this thing!” he yelled out. He drew on his various powers. Around him, his Dream Eaters took form, branching out from the darkness he kept a solid hold of. One couldn’t help but to jump into his arms for a moment and give him some licks. Wings again grew from his back, and he infused his Keyblade with all the light he could.

He jumped forward, taking big leaping steps before launching himself into the air. His Keyblade sang as it struck the torso of the massive Heartless. His Dream Eaters surrounded the Heartless, doing their best to draw the attention of its many limbs and tails to give Riku a chance.

The Heartless let loose a dark aura that circled around it before bursting out in balls of darkness. It sounded almost like a scream. Two of his Dream Eaters as well as himself dodged, but one was hit. It simply  _ vanished _ , and Riku felt his connection to it had just...gone. Like it hadn’t existed in the first place.

Riku swallowed the sadness at the loss of his partner.

Well then. That was disconcerting. It looked like it was getting down to business.

Riku cast a blast of Blizzaga before he flew up. Up, and up, until he was past the cover of the miniature blizzard and face-to-face with the Heartless. He powered up his Keyblade before zooming in. A combination of blows made the Heartless flinch backwards.

Before it straightened right back up and glared right at Riku. It screamed again, the force enough to make Riku crash straight into the ground. He came to his shaky senses just in time to realize that a ball of darkness was heading straight for him.

“Uh-oh,” Riku couldn’t help but mutter as he tried to dodge to the side. He couldn’t, realizing too late that he’d been inflicted with the Stun status effect.

As it closed in, he closed his eyes. So, this was how it went. He knew Kairi and Sora would be okay together. He believed in them.

“No!”

The shouts was the only thing that alerted him. Riku opened his eyes in time to see both Kairi and Sora were trying to protect him. Kairi cradled his body as Sora tried to deflect the darkness.

The darkness ate at the Keyblade. It wrapped around Sora’s wrists. Riku watched in horror as it moved all along Sora’s body.

Riku tried to yell Sora’s name. He tried to tell Kairi to save Sora. But he couldn’t. All he could do was watch helplessly as the darkness overtook his partner. His lover. His light.

Into the darkness Sora went. And Riku was certain he wouldn’t come out.


	12. Chapter 12

_ Sora! Really? THAT’S how you go out?! _

Sora felt something pulling at his chest. Something was trying to take him. It would succeed soon. He was helpless to it.

_ I...well, have an idea. You won’t like it. _

**What choice do I have?**

_ None _ Roxas admitted.  _ At least this way we can protect Kairi and Riku. _

**You know I would do anything for them.**

_ I know. Which is why I think you’ll listen. It...it won’t save you. But it could save them. _

Sora listened.

* * *

Kairi felt powerless.

She was able to protect Riku. He was safe.

But Sora…

She tried to stay strong even as the pain in her heart grew. She helped Riku up, taking a defensive stance as he finally snapped out of it.

“Sora…” The pain in Riku’s word was palpable. The hopelessness in it was obvious.

“Riku!” Kairi shook her head when he looked at her. “Sora wouldn’t like it if we gave up. Especially if it was because of him!”

“...Right. You’re right.” Riku wiped at his eyes. “We need to beat this thing first. Then…” He wavered for a moment. “Then we can…”

The bulb of darkness in front of them wavered a few times. Kairi swallowed, preparing to have to fight the Heartless of her beloved.

Then it exploded. Light glowed from within the darkness. The Heartless reeled backwards away from it. Kairi gasped even as she was blinded by the light.

Was it…?

The light died down enough for her to see. And her heart fell.

Roxas stood in the space that had previously held Sora. He was holding Oathkeeper and Oblivion, staring sternly ahead of him.

“Roxas.” The word was slightly acidic. She was certain Riku didn’t mean it like it sounded.

“I’m here to help.” He shifted his stance, light dancing in motes around his Keyblades.

“Where’s Sora?” Kairi couldn’t help but to ask.

“He’s…” Roxas held his tongue. Then, he said, “It’s complicated. I can tell you more once we finish with this thing.”

“I’m holding you to that,” Riku said hotly.

“Right.” Roxas took a few steps. “So, I’m going to rip this thing’s shadow out. Do you think you two could beat it once I do?”

“Yes. We can,” Kairi said with conviction.

“Good. Then, let’s get to it.”

Roxas wasted no time. He zoomed forward even as the Heartless recovered and began shooting dark orbs at him. He easily dodged between them, practically cloning himself as he went. Light pillars burst out from his Keyblades and formed in the void around them. Then they blasted downwards, burning into the Heartless.

A hole formed where they all concentrated. Roxas jumped and shoved his Keyblades in before unleashing yet another blast of light. The shell of the Heartless exploded, leaving a core of shifting shadows in its place.

“Now!”

Kairi and Riku flanked it before moving in. Kairi ducked down to hit it below as Riku jumped to hit it high. They unleashed a combination that would have made Sora proud.

Darkness was leaking out of the cuts they left. The shell began to form again.

“Oh no you don’t!” Roxas stuck his Keyblades into two of the larger cuts and pulsed light into it.

Waves of darkness roiled off of the heart. Kairi felt the opening more than she saw it.

She swung her Keyblade upwards. It stuck in a glowing cut. She pushed deeper, and deeper. Harder until she was certain the Heartless was destroyed.

Kairi pulled out her Keyblade even as the core slowed, then stopped. It faded into nothing then. The darkness around them lifted, leaving them in a small meadow just outside of Radiant Garden.

Kairi let herself take a breath.

Then she began weeping.

* * *

Riku hated himself.

He couldn’t protect Kairi. He couldn’t protect…

_ Sora _ . His heart was bleeding just as freely as Kairi was crying.

It felt impossible. After everything they’d been through, everything they’d fought, and it was Riku being weak that ended up killing Sora.

He was gone and not coming back.

“Look. I know this wasn’t ideal,” Roxas began.

“ _ Wasn’t ideal _ !? Sora’s GONE!” Riku snapped.

“Well...yes and no.”

“What kind of answer is that?” Riku growled.

“Sora’s gone...but he’s  _ not _ gone,” Roxas explained poorly.

“What do you mean…?” Kairi asked between tears.

“Here.” Roxas seemed to pull at his chest. From the emptiness of his Nobody body came-

“A heart?” It pulled at him. Riku realized… “Sora?”

“It was the only way we could think of.” Roxas looked at the heart. “He let the Heartless pull his heart out, bringing me back. And I pulled it back to safety.”

“Can’t you just...recombine with it? It worked before, didn’t it?!” Riku asked desperately.

Roxas shook his head. “That was a bit of a fluke with the power of the Princesses of Heart helping to save him. There’s nothing like that here.” His eyes shifted, and Riku was certain he really was sorry. “Sora can’t come back. But he wanted to still be here for you.”

Kairi hesitantly reached out. “We can have...his heart?”

“Sora wanted it this way.” Roxas let the heart float from his hands towards Kairi and Riku.

Riku reached out too. His and Kairi’s hands both brushed against the heart. Warmth flooded Riku as part of the heart took root in his body. He could feel the love, the humor, the everything that had been their beloved Sora.

Sora was gone. But he was still with them.

There was also something else that Riku felt that made him feel a little irritated.

“He didn’t want the wedding like this?!” Riku and Kairi both said as one. They looked at each other.

“Wasn’t he the one that wanted all our friends here?” Riku asked.

“Yes he was! And he didn’t say anything when we started talking about Radiant Garden!” Kairi shook her head and sighed. “If Sora was here…!”

Roxas scratched his head. “I  _ told _ him all that, but he didn’t want to listen. He wanted to make you two happy.”

“I wanted to make you two happy,” Riku admitted, “so I went along with it too.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah.”

Kairi thought for a second. “So...what kind of wedding  _ did _ you and Sora want?”

“Well…”


	13. Epilogue

It was a warm day on the beach. The waves brushed against the shore. The steady in and out helped to keep Riku calm.

On the beach their friends were relaxing on the sand. This time, they gave an open invite for anyone to come with no pressure or pomp. There was no organization, no decorations, no seating. Just an open forum with everyone sitting wherever they wanted however they wanted with Riku, Kairi, and Sora’s heart up front.

There were no vows. There were no words needed. All that was needed was a Paopu fruit.

Mickey was holding a Paopu fruit in his hands. He split it into three. One went to Kairi. One went to Riku. And one was given to both of them.

Kairi and Riku both ate their section of fruit. Then they shared the one between them.

Their friends cheered for them, even as Gosalyn, Huey, Dewey, and Luey blasted off what looked like a bizarre kind of firework. The cheers turned to screaming as the fireworks fell over and began blasting all around them.

Kairi and Riku embraced each other even as all their friends fled the chaos. They felt their three hearts beating as one.

Just as it should be.


End file.
